MAY 2023 GARDEN BIRDS

This is probably the shortest bird list I have published here before: I have been away a lot this month and even while at home have been buried in the red tape of applying for visas for our forthcoming trip to visit our children living abroad …

Red-winged Starlings have continued to dominate the garden as the crop of Natal figs have kept them busy. I love watching the sun catching the russet parts of their wings when they fly over the garden. This one is perched on the top of the Erythrina caffra, which has now lost most of its leaves and will soon be covered with scarlet flowers.

Every bird report includes the Laughing Doves because they always seem to be around. On our return from spending nearly a week in the Western Cape though – and no food provided for them in the interim – they took a day or two to return to being their gutsy selves.

The African Green Pigeons have also enjoyed the figs and as these came to an end, so has their presence. They have doubtless found another source of food somewhere within the town.

I hear Black-collared Barbets often, but have seen little of them this month. I suspect they are still wary of the cats next door. Having said that, I am thrilled to see a pair of Cape Robin-chats gradually becoming bolder. The other day I put out a block of cheese and spent several joyful minutes enjoying watching them coming out of the shrubbery to feast on it.

Two Black-headed Orioles also took turns to feast on the cheese.

Olive Thrushes muscled their way in too and frequently chased the other birds away.

A pair of Fork-tailed Drongos mainly swoop around the back garden, favouring a different Erythrina caffra to perch in.

Advance warning: I will be away for most of June and July, so those bird lists will be both very late and very short and I will be very quiet until my return.

My bird list for this month:

Red-winged Starling
African Green Pigeon
Black-collared Barbet
Blackeyed Bulbul
Blackheaded Oriole
Bokmakierie
Bronze Manikin
Cape Robin-chat
Cape Weaver
Cape White-eye
Common Starling
Common Fiscal
Fork-tailed Drongo
Greater Double-collared Sunbird
Greyheaded Sparrow
Hadeda Ibis
Knysna Turaco
Laughing Dove
Olive Thrush
Pied Crow
Redeyed Dove
Rednecked Spurfowl
Sombre Bulbul
Speckled Pigeon
Village Weaver

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APRIL 2023 GARDEN BIRDS

I have been late before, but never this late with my monthly report on the birds visiting our garden. Blame it on the hours spent sourcing the necessary information and having to travel all the way to Cape Town to lodge visa applications – no, we don’t have our passports back yet. Keep calm, breathe deeply … that is the only way to deal with bureaucracy. April was a month in which I welcomed several new visitors: Sombre Bulbul, Grey-headed Bush Shrike, Common Starling, Amethyst Sunbird, Black Sparrowhawk, Crowned Hornbill, African Hoopoe, Spectacled Weaver and Yellow Weaver.

Strangely enough, the Common Starlings have mainly visited the Natal fig tree and have found something to eat in the Erythrina caffra instead of coming down to ground level – which they have often done in the past.

It is the African Green Pigeons that have provided great delight with their coughing, deep-throated laughing sounds and occasional views of them peeping through the leaves of the fig tree. With the mornings becoming ever colder and the sun taking longer to rise, I have sometimes seen them sunning themselves in the higher branches of the Erythrina caffra.

Once, when a particularly noisy truck passed along the road below our home, over sixty of these beautiful birds took to the air with a collectively loud beating of their wings.

Laughing Doves still take at least twenty minutes of perching in branches before feeling comfortable enough to flutter down to eat the maize seeds on the ground. There are still a number that insist on clinging onto the hanging feeders to get at the fine seed there. Pied Crows fly overhead regularly and occasionally perch in the upper branches of the fig tree or on the top of the cypress in the next door garden.

The Black-headed Orioles have not enjoyed me moving the feeders to the other side of the garden and have taken a while to visit the nectar feeder and the fruit tray. The Cape Robin-chats are also wary, even though there is plenty of cover for them to hide. They tend to come out when few other birds are about and are quick to fly off at the slightest sound. They must be on the constant lookout for the cats next door.

Huge flocks of Red-winged Starlings have been feasting on the figs. The air is filled with their mellifluous calls and their fig-fuelled droppings are all over the garden. They too are sometimes startled by unexpectedly loud sounds from passing vehicles and take to the skies.

I often remark that the Knysna Turacos are more easily heard than seen in our garden. Sometimes I am fortunate enough to see one flying across the garden, but this month I was able to photograph one perched in the back garden.

My bird list for this month:

African Green Pigeon

African Hoopoe

Amethyst Sunbird

Barthroated Apalis

Black-collared Barbet

Black-eyed (Dark-capped) Bulbul

Black-headed Oriole

Black Sparrowhawk

Bokmakierie

Bronze Manikin

Cape Crow

Cape Robin-Chat

Cape Weaver

Cape White-eye

Cattle Egret

Common Fiscal

Common Starling

Crowned Hornbill

Fiery-necked Nightjar

Fork-tailed Drongo

Greater Double-collared Sunbird

Grey-headed Bush Shrike

Grey-headed Sparrow

Hadeda Ibis

Knysna Turaco

Laughing Dove

Olive Thrush

Pied Crow

Red-eyed Dove

Rednecked Spurfowl

Red-winged Starling

Sacred Ibis

Sombre Bulbul

Southern Masked Weaver

Speckled Mousebird

Speckled Pigeon

Spectacled Weaver

Streakyheaded Seedeater

Village Weaver

Yellow Weaver

 

 

MARCH 2023 GARDEN BIRDS

“I’m late, I’m late, for a very important date!” So said the White Rabbit in Alice in Wonderland. Well, watching the birds in our garden has been an activity snatched between others during what has proved to be a very busy month indeed. Whiterumped Swifts and Lesserstriped Swallows have bid us farewell to wing their way northwards. Here are two of hundreds of the latter gathered on the ground nearby prior to their departure.

Laughing Doves tend to dominate the feeding area, especially if I put the seeds out early, so I have successfully experimented with changing the feeding times slightly and have been more irregular about it. Cape White-eyes are finding lots of berries and insects to eat in our autumn garden at the moment, while a number of Cape Crows have made raucous fly-pasts throughout the month – sometimes landing briefly in the Natal fig tree.

This is a changeable month with some birds leaving and others arriving. A newcomer is the African Harrier Hawk, which has flown low over the garden several times and occasionally lands in the Erythrina caffra. Even watching it flying above me, I can hear no sound – of course the birds hide immediately and they too make no sound!

Speaking of sounds: I love the sound of Cape Turtle Doves early in the morning and during the late afternoons so I am delighted they have made their presence felt once more. Their sound reminds me of growing up in the Transvaal Lowveld and the many adventures I had there.

Another delightful bird call is that of the Bokmakierie.

Forktailed Drongos flit about the back garden and deftly catch insects on the wing.

I am very pleased to see that the Streakyheaded Seedeaters are back this month.

My bird list for this month:
African Green Pigeon
African Harrier Hawk
Barthroated Apalis
Black-collared Barbet
Black-eyed (Dark-capped) Bulbul
Black-headed Oriole
Bokmakierie
Bronze Manikin
Cape Crow
Cape Robin-Chat
Cape Turtle Dove
Cape Weaver
Cape White-eye
Cattle Egret
Common Fiscal
Fiery-necked Nightjar
Fork-tailed Drongo
Greater Double-collared Sunbird
Green Woodhoopoe
Grey-headed Sparrow
Hadeda Ibis
Knysna Turaco
Laughing Dove
Lesser-striped Swallow
Olive Thrush
Red-eyed Dove
Rednecked Spurfowl
Red-winged Starling
Southern Masked Weaver
Speckled Mousebird
Speckled Pigeon
Streakyheaded Seedeater
Village Weaver
White-rumped Swift

FEBRUARY 2023 GARDEN BIRDS

Another month has flown by in a flurry of activity, leaving little time for photographing avian visitors to our garden – never mind being able to enjoy watching them without the nagging thought that I ought to be doing something else. The real problem – and partly why this post is late – lies with the long bouts sans power that we endure every day. This means one rushes around doing what needs electricity to be done when there is power and catching up with all sorts of other things when there is not. Thank goodness for the birds though: they are always there – seen or heard – to provide some respite from this mad rush.

There have not been as many weavers around as we usually see at this time of the year and of these, Southern Masked Weavers have been dominant. Red-eyed Doves too have been heard –usually early in the morning and during the late afternoon – more than seen. Redwinged Starlings are gathering in ever larger groups now and make various flypasts during the day – one hears them before seeing them whizz by. There will always be an abundance of Laughing Doves attracted by the seeds I put out daily and I am very pleased to note the return of Fork-tailed Drongos. Other welcome returnees this month include the Barthroated Apalis – its cheerful chirps can be heard throughout the day, Fierynecked Nightjars – lovely to hear them at night, and a few fleeting visits from a pair of Yellow-fronted Canaries.

It is always pleasing to actually spot an African Green Pigeon. This one was perched on the branch of the Tipuana tree early one morning:

The presence of Rednecked Spurfowls make me feel as though I have woken up in a game reserve! This small family makes regular forays onto our front lawn and from there to the seed that has fallen under the feeders next to the swimming pool. I have seen them in the back garden too and so have taken to scattering crushed mealies there every now and then. This one is looking up at me in surprise:

Bronze Manikins never fail to amuse the way they huddle close together on the feeders – there always seems to room for one more – and yet, they too, sometimes peck each other or biff one out of the way in order to get to the food:

Most gratifying this month has been the fairly regular sightings of a young Cape Robin-chat. It was very shy at first, but has become bolder in its search for food. Here it is perched on the edge of the bird bath:

A significant problem we have to deal with during these long periods sans power is that perishables, such as cheese, do not last as long as they ought to – even in the fridge. Here Spotty, the Common Fiscal, looks as though he is biting off more than he can chew:

Even though I featured a Blackheaded Oriole last month too, I cannot resist including this view of one perched on the trunk of a Cussonia (cabbage tree) next to the swimming pool:

My bird list for this month:
African Green Pigeon
Barthroated Apalis
Black-collared Barbet
Black-eyed (Dark-capped) Bulbul
Black-headed Oriole
Bokmakierie
Bronze Manikin
Cape Crow
Cape Robin-Chat
Cape Weaver
Cape White-eye
Cattle Egret
Common Fiscal
Fiery-necked Nightjar
Fork-tailed Drongo
Greater Double-collared Sunbird
Green Woodhoopoe
Grey-headed Sparrow
Hadeda Ibis
Knysna Turaco
Laughing Dove
Lesser-striped Swallow
Olive Thrush
Paradise Flycatcher
Pied Crow
Red-eyed Dove
Rednecked Spurfowl
Red-winged Starling
Sacred Ibis
Southern Masked Weaver
Speckled Mousebird
Speckled Pigeon
Village Weaver
White-rumped Swift
Yellow-fronted Canary

JANUARY 2023 GARDEN BIRDS

January was a month of heat, power outages, appointments, having to deal with issues such as installing a new water tank and pump as a buffer for when the municipal water supply runs out … and my laptop went on the blink and required a new keyboard. I have very few bird photographs to choose from this month, even though the list below shows that we have again enjoyed many visitors.

The year began on a happy note with several sightings of a pair of Paradise Flycatchers flitting around the feeding area as well as in other parts of the garden. The female seemed to have taken a dislike to an Olive Thrush for a day or two and chased it away from the bird bath whenever it saw it there. Sacred Ibises fly over the garden in a V-formation in the late afternoons, catching the last rays of the sun as they head for their favourite perches in the CBD after the day spent in the countryside. Black-eyed (Dark-capped) Bulbuls are cheerful visitors that perch on the aloes or on the branches above my head chirping loudly – especially when they find food they particularly enjoy. They have tucked into the fruit I have put out as well as eating tiny bits of meat.

Laughing Doves visit the garden throughout the year. I was fascinated to see one nesting in the grapevine on a neighbour’s veranda the other day – apparently this is a regular nesting spot; close to where they regularly sit. This one is keeping an eye on what is happening in the garden before it flutters down to enjoy the maize seeds on the ground.

The Cape Weavers come and go and are more evident on some days than on others. The nectar feeder is a big draw-card during this very hot weather.

I hear Black-collared Barbets calling around the neighbourhood every day and am always pleased when they stop by to eat something from the feeding tray. They have become much more wary about doing so since the neighbouring cats moved in.

Village Weavers are regular visitors too, although they might stay away for a day or two. This is the first summer in years that no weavers have even tried to build nests in the any of the many trees we have growing in our garden.

From being heard more often than seen, a pair of Black-headed Orioles have become daily visitors to the feeding area to eat, drink from the bird bath or to perch in nearby branches whilst calling to each other. Theirs is among the first sounds to be heard in the early mornings.

Then there is an Olive Thrush. I have always regarded these as iconic birds of our garden: they were everywhere, until the cats next door arrived. Now they pay fleeting visits and when they do, they remain on the alert and fly off as soon as a movement or sound spooks them.

My bird list for this month:
African Darter
African Green Pigeon
African Harrier Hawk
African Hoopoe
Black-collared Barbet
Black-eyed (Dark-capped) Bulbul
Black-headed Oriole
Bokmakierie
Bronze Manikin
Cape Crow
Cape Robin-Chat
Cape Turtle Dove
Cape Weaver
Cape White-eye
Cattle Egret
Common Fiscal
Diederik Cuckoo
Fork-tailed Drongo
Greater Double-collared Sunbird
Green Woodhoopoe
Grey-headed Sparrow
Hadeda Ibis
Klaas’s Cuckoo
Knysna Turaco
Laughing Dove
Lesser-striped Swallow
Olive Thrush
Paradise Flycatcher
Pied Crow
Red-eyed Dove
Rednecked Spurfowl
Red-winged Starling
Sacred Ibis
Southern Boubou
Southern Masked Weaver
Speckled Mousebird
Speckled Pigeon
Spectacled Weaver
Village Weaver
White-rumped Swift